FlashBack three weeks ago. Team Sevens Genin were fighting for their very lives against a missing-nin. They were barely holding on, the enemy had successfully separated them from their two sensei's. Sasuke was fighting alongside his team,harder than He'd ever before . The man trying to kill them was no weakling. Tsukune no Kaminari o Kiru was not to be taken lightly. Even with his Sharingan active he was barely able to keep up. If they had tried to fight him without all three Genin members they'd have died long ago. Heating his chakra,he saw Naruto's eyes on him for a split second. He knew what Naruto was going to do. Blitzing through five hand seals Sasuke muttered "Katon: Jigoku no Hakken." Four beams of flame shot from Sasuke's mouth serpentine in appearance, twisting then going wide to attack from four different angles at once. He felt Naruto's chakra grinding against itself, Sasuke kept his attack up knowing what came next. Naruto tore through Eight hand signs, quietly calling "Futon: Hageshi Omo Ishi". A sphere of cutting wind surrounded the man, who was about to substitute out when Sakura trapped him if only for a moment in time. She had bided her time appropriately waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Six hand signs for her best Genjutsu " Ninpo:Jigoku no Kioku '' Tsukune's muscles seized in the exact second Naruto's and Sasuke's attacks made contact. The explosion was controlled by Naruto's chakra keeping his sphere of destruction going,then making a hole at the top to give the inferno an exit point. The blast still knocked all three off their feet. Sasuke's Sharingan eyes watched the mans chakra fade shortly after. He was dead.
Sasuke that day, Started to believe that this team would help him take Itachi down. He started to view them as Family. Though he'd never say such out loud.
* Flash Back over*
*
That day Sasuke had seen Naruto and Sakura's extreme determination to see that he made it home after every mission. Sasuke being the pragmatic sort, well this confounded him so he asked them outright. "Why do you both fight so hard for me?" his question,whispered, lingered upon the evening air. Naruto turned around to his teammate. He looked at Sasuke with an expression of exasperation. "Why wouldn't we fight for you?" he asked as if that was enough to answer the question. The three Genin walked through Konoha at a sedate pace, the leaves of the trees lining the streets had turned to the myriad of colors signifying fall had arrived. Fall in the Land of Fire was not hot but cool. The crisp air breezed it's way past the three bring scents of stand food and grilling meat. Sakura's stomach growled loudly with Naruto's and Sasuke's following suit. The decision had already been made to go to the Founding festival. The Genin were all wearing "civvies" already. Sasuke had commented earlier that the lack of armor made him feel naked.
The only blonde of Team Seven was dressed in a open chested Kimono. He had wooden geta adorning his feet. On his right pectoral was tattooed the Kanji for "Takashio Kitsune"(Surging Storm Fox).Even in non-ninja wear the three still wore their headbands denoting their status as ninja. Sakura wore a black kimono with silver trim and blood red cherry blossoms. Her chest, while not as open as Naruto's, still showed enough that her tattoo was able to be glimpsed. If one could read the kanji it would say"Kirameku Shi no Hana" (Shimmering Death Blossom). She had the Kanji placed above her left breast. The two boys had been there while Kakashi tattooed her flesh. So they got an eyeful. The ensuing reaction from both had been hilarious. Sasuke wore a soft blue kimono with gold trimming and the Uchiha's clan crest adoring the back. He along with Sakura had Zori sandals on their feet. The Uchiha wore his kimono openly as his Uzumaki teammate. His tattoo was clearly seen, the Kanji denoting "NenSho Jinsoku Taka" (Swift Burning Hawk). The three Genin enjoyed some stand food,the owner looked ready to tell Naruto off when Sasuke's Sharingan had warned him otherwise. A loud familiar voice broke the three's enjoyable quiet. " Naruto, is that you? You look strong now." Ino Yamanaka made herself visible to the three. Ino was a Blonde Kunoichi who wore a dark purple top and shorts. Her abdomen was covered by a light armor cloth that took the appearance of though she wore a dark purple kimono with gold trimmings with the Yamanaka clan symbol on the back. Naruto had always thought she was pretty. "I don't just look stronger." Naruto scoffed. "Yeah right you were.." she would've said more but Naruto disappeared from in front of her. She then felt the bite of cold steel on her jugular. "Say what you want, Ino. I can tell you didn't see me move,which was slowly by the way"Naruto spoke from behind her left ear. His breath on her neck. "That's enough Naruto." Sakura commanded sternly.
Naruto withdrew his kunai. Ino knew he was right, she hadn't seen him move at all. " So anything new with you Ino?"Sakura asked, trying to make Ino relax. Ino saw the tattoos the three had. "What's with the ink?"she asked, trying,and failing in Sasuke's opinion,to appear unshaken.
Sakura gained a thoughtful expression upon her visage. "Well it was my idea actually. Something to commemorate our passing Hiro-sensei and Kakashi-sensei's bootcamp. Six months of the most grueling training they could put us through." She replied. Ino read all the Kanji for all three. She looked at Sasuke," Is there a reason for the Kanji? If you wanted to commemorate passing bootcamp, you could've just got "team seven" on all three."she asked with a questioning look. "Hn" was Sasuke's reply. Naruto had to hold in a laugh. " Ino have you looked at the newest Bingo book?" Sakura asked with a grin finding itself on her face. Ino plainly stated "No".
Naruto barked a laugh. Ino looked at him with a frown "what is that supposed to mean Dobe?" She spat hotly. A hand gripped her shoulder,then forcing her to face him Sasuke firmly stated " You do not have the right to call Naruto that. He has killed Enemy Ninja, while you play ninja. He has saved our Team's lives multiple times. He has risked his neck for Team Seven." Sasuke spat venomously. Sasuke was about to say more when a hand patted his shoulder, "Maa Sasuke-kun you're scaring a fellow leaf kunoichi."Kakashi appeared from the thin air,to Ino. The Uchiha nodded and looked at his teammates. "Let's go, I don't want to miss the fireworks." he stated plainly. All three Team Seven Genin walked away. Leaving Kakashi with a rattled Yamanaka.
"Has Naruto really killed an enemy Shinobi?" She asked in a small voice. Kakashi looked at the blonde Genin,taking a second to gather his thoughts. "Yes, by my count Naruto has killed eight enemy ninjas to date. I'll let you in on something, every Genin on my squad has killed enemy ninja. Just a short while ago the three of them took down a missing-nin who was A-rank,and had the rank of Jounin before he deserted his village. So why do you think I'm telling you this?" Kakashi finished, lazy drawl present in his voice. Ino took a second,thinking about the Jounin's question. "To tell my Jounin sensei?"She inquired sheepishly. Kakashi nodded. "Yep tell Asuma he should come watch my team train,hell he can bring all of Team Ten. Then see if he's still laughing and making jokes."Kakashi said,then he was gone in a seamless Shunshin.
Hiro Uzumaki was talking to a certain ruby-eyed Genjutsu Mistress. "Kurenai,you should take Anko's word for it. Team Seven would dog-walk your team,uh so to speak." Hiro stated. Konoha's resident Snake summoner nodded her head. " I'm telling you Nai-chan,Hiro and Kakashi went medieval on their team. I watched it was evil…sometimes." She agreed with the Uzumaki. Another presence made themselves known. "Then why didn't you two put them up for the Chunin exams?" Might Guy stated at a loud volume. Hiro sighed. He thought for a couple of seconds. The Hokage had never said he couldn't tell anyone. "They're going to be promoted soon anyway. They have the mission record for it, and have performed,to beyond what was required,what the Hokage has ordered them to do." Hiro stated with a tinge of pride leaking into his voice.